Monday, April 25, 2016

Let us review...Monday and Tuesday were normal days but Wednesday was an early release. It was also Lemonade and Lollipops day at school. Their school had the Boosterthon Fun Run a couple weeks ago and the 2nd grade teachers put some incentives in place. They got extra recess, lemonade and lollipops on Wednesday - the early release day. Which makes it sound like they probably didn't have to do too much actual work! I'm sure they loved it.

Thursday was Bubblegum Blowout day at school but only Will got to participate. He said they learned about the history of gum and then got to try old gum - Dentine, chiclets, and one other I can't remember. He didn't like the Dentine because it was cinnamon flavor. He didn't try the Chiclets because someone said the red ones were hotter than Dentine.

Lindy didn't participate because she had her annual D/HH and VI Field day. That's field day for deaf or hard of hearing and visually impaired. Or in her case - for both! Lindy was so super excited for this day she even woke up early. It was also the first time Drew and I could not go. With Drew's new job he couldn't go and it fell on a day when I was out of town all day for work. Mimo stepped in to save the day and she got to go see Lindy at field day. Most importantly, she took some pictures for me. Lindy seemed to have a blast. She got to see her preschool hearing teacher and she got to see Ms. Jenny who runs her summer camp. She got to play with water balloons and the best part - she got to see a real live guide dog. The highlight of her day. The other part was missing school. She was gone from about 9:30am to 1pm. On the back of her t-shirt it said, "We Matter. Respect the Difference." It's a shirt that I think applies to everyone in the world right now. Lindy loved that shirt. She came out that morning telling us we all needed to respect her. She said she was telling people at school, too. Ha! I'm sure that went over well. She even told the dog and cat to respect her. That girl!

Friday at school was silly sock and crazy hat day. I had to go buy Will some silly socks - because that is not usually his style - but he promised to wear them. They both looked cute in their get ups. We had the coolest hats we got from a Wake Forest football game last year - given out by the girls basketball team. They had fun.

We had a little more grandparent help this weekend because Drew was out of town hiking with friends. I normally pick the kids up on Fridays but it was the day before one of my March for Babies walks so I couldn't. My mom came over and picked the kids up and watched them for me. They stopped for yogurt on the way home. I got home about 6pm and we went to dinner and to Target.

Saturday morning I was out of the house at 5am for my walk. Mom got the kids up and got them ready for their sporting activities. My dad and Sadie came over to watch the kids. They went to tennis with Will and then they grabbed McDonald's and ate it on the way to Lindy's baseball game. I think Lindy had another fun time at her game. She had a new buddy, McKenzie. They got home and I got home not too long after them. We had a beautiful walk and we had lots of volunteers so we were able to get it set up and broken down quicker than normal. We got back and unloaded and I was home before 3pm. My dad and I worked on installing track lights over our kitchen island. Because I could stand on the island and not hit my head I did most of it. He had to tell me what to do and he drilled a couple holes in but I did a lot of it! As my mom said, we made a good team. It is so great to have light there now! I love it! He fixed another light in my laundry room. For the first time ever I'll have light when I'm doing laundry at night! My parents left in the evening and the kids and I just hung out. They watched a movie and then it was to bed for everyone.

We woke up on Sunday morning and Will did not feel well. He sneezed a ton on Saturday and then he just felt bad all day. He sneezed tons of snot out, had a headache, a sore throat. He laid on the couch the entire day. He seemed to perk up a little after his bath.

Sunday, April 17, 2016

All the fun stuff this week had to do with some kind of sporting activity.

I spent the week recovering from the March for Babies last weekend and planning two more. Wednesday afternoon I took off to take Drew to get an endoscopy. Drew has awful heartburn and has had it for years and years. Even on 4 pills of acid reflux meds he still has it. It was time to look down the old esophagus to see what damage is being done. We'll find out the results early this week. He was funny waking up from anesthesia. He kept repeating himself and trying to convince me to let him drive. Yeah right.

Thursday morning was a busy one. Will has an opportunity to go to a different school and do a different program so we went and toured it Thursday morning. No decisions have been made but we are gathering all the info we can. Will and I had to sneak out early to get back to school for the Boosterthon Fun Run. In Will's words "I love the Fun Run." It's all fun and games for him but we have to ask our family for money! They do make it a fun week for the kids and they are all pumped to go run their 35 laps. Lindy walked with her vision teacher and her friend Preston. Will ran with wild abandon! They had fun and we did raise money for new technology so it was a win-win.

Friday afterschool was fun for the kids. Lindy went home with a friend to play and Will went over to the Bryants' to play while I finished working. Drew met us at the Bryants' and we all went to dinner and then downtown to the Light Project. They did a light show in a hidden tunnel downtown. I was underwhelmed but it was fun to be downtown and the kids had fun with the changing light colors.

Saturday was full of sporting events. I took Will to tennis lessons at 10:30am and when they were done we all headed to Lindy's first baseball game this year. She played two years ago but the league didn't have kids last year. We found a new league for her this year and there were 20 kids out there Saturday. She had a blast! She had a buddy, Naomi, who she talked to the whole time! This league doesn't use a tee. They pitch till the kids get a hit. Every kid got a hit! They played two innings and then provided a little snack. Mimo came to watch her first game, too. It was a beautiful afternoon for some baseball and Lindy had a blast.

Saturday afternoon and most of today we have alternated between cleaning, yardwork and fun. Lindy and I have worked on a school project as well in there. We almost have the house clean but we were able to ride bikes and jump on the trampoline. Will is an official two wheel bike rider!! We started working with him last summer when we moved to a flat yard and flat driveway and he was starting to get the hang of it. I got him back on a couple weeks ago and he has practiced and now he can do it! Finally!!! Lindy has no interest and tells us we cannot take her training wheels off. Maybe one day!

The weather is finally starting to warm up and we had some pretty days. Pics from the week.

Fun Run with Ms. Donna and Preston

Runner boy, Will

Giving High 5's to his adoring fans!

After his 35 laps

With his friend Ben

Lindy the night of the Fun Run. Check out that hair. It was everywhere!

Friday night at the Bryants'. Mazie was very confused on why two girls were in her crate and she was outside the crate!

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Last week was a bit of a crazy week for me. The week leading up to our first March for Babies walk of the season. I love the Winston-Salem MFB but it does take on a slightly different meaning when I'm the one planning the whole shebang. I managed to get home on time for the first two days, although I spent all night working. I was a little late Wednesday night and very late Thursday night. I didn't see the kids before they went to bed.

The week was pretty normal otherwise. Friday night Drew took the kids to the Family Fun night at the new little league that Lindy is going to play baseball at this spring. I met them at home after they were done. Nana came over that evening to go to the MFB and to help me out.

We were up and out the door at 5:15am that morning. It was cold but we were layered. It was not windy at 6am so we set everything up, including 23 pop up tents with concrete on them. Around 8am, when people started arriving, the wind started blowing, and all heck broke loose. Tents were trying to fly off and people were holding them down. It turned into a quick nightmare actually. Every tent was quickly taken down before anyone got hurt and the show went on. People said they still had a good time, despite the wind and cold. It got colder as the morning went on.

The kids and Drew had the old standbys walking with us and some new friends. A couple new families from church joined us, and our new neighbors. We also had Lynn, my mom, Bob, Martha from our last church, and the Bryant family walking with us. Most have walked with us for 5-8 years. The Bryants have walked 8 years with us! Talk about good friends!

When the walk was done and cleaned up, my mom and I headed to meet up with Drew and the kids for Lindy's first baseball game. They were to have pictures and a game. I got there when they were handing out t-shirts. It was so cold outside they had moved them to an indoor location where they were taking pics. They had all these nets out and they let the Challenger League kids do some batting practice. They did not end up playing a game. They took a group pic and got to bat and called it a day. Lindy had fun hitting balls. The guy in there was actually pitching to her and she was hitting some! She was so funny and cute when she'd hit one. She'd stomp her foot! It was funny. She tried the tee but it was actually too tall for her.

The rest of the weekend was not exciting. I didn't move from the couch on Saturday evening. Sunday we did our normal church and chores. And here we go again this week.

Pics from the walk on Saturday!

Bundled up and ready to March for Babies

Church friends - can you tell how cold and windy it was?

My sweet March of Dimes babes

Walking for our sweet Adam.

Claire and Will walking the route

Hot dog lunch!

Some of the team. The ones that were around at that time anyway!

Martha was there. She worked her butt off! She came early and stayed late and practically ran the route. No one can keep up with her! Thanks for all the help Martha!!

Million Dollar Babies came in #1 for top family team raising the most money!! Wahoo! Money for the babies!!

8 years and counting of walking with the Bryants! Claire was in utero the first walk!

My trusty co-workers! Velvet and Meghan!

My sweet niece was sporting some March of Dimes purple wear! She models it well!

Our new neighbors were there!

Ed, Jamie, and her parents braved the wind for a small amount of time. Too cold for my precious baby niece!